![This eBook edition published in 2010 by Birlinn Limited West Newington House 10 - photo 1](/uploads/posts/book/100151/images/00001.jpeg)
This eBook edition published in 2010 by
Birlinn Limited
West Newington House
10 Newington Road
Edinburgh
EH9 1QS
www.birlinn.co.uk
This edition first published in 2010 by
Birlinn Ltd
Copyright John MacLeod 2009
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-1-84158-858-2
eBook IBSN: 978-0-85790-511-6
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
for my father, Donald Macleod
Dmhnall mac Dhmhnaill ic Mhurchaidh ic
Dhmhnaill ic Mhurchaidh Am Pobair
and the sailors of the Long Island
for my mother, Mary MacLean
Miri nighean Mhurchaidh Chaluim Mhir, mac Aonghais ic
Murchaidh ic Iain ig ic Iain Duibh ic Iain mac an Abraich
and the women of Lewis
for the 284
and in honour of
Henry Allingham
Claude Choules
Harry Patch
and
William Stone
our last veterans
of the Great War for Freedom and Honour
19141919
Contents
![Picture 2](/uploads/posts/book/100151/images/00002.jpeg)
Raoir Reubadh an Iolaire Murchadh MacPhrlain
(Murdo MacFarlane)
P ART O NE : L OSS
1 The Dark Ship
T HE CONTINUED RESONANCE OF AN UNIQUE DISASTER
2 Tolsta 1917
L IFE AND WORK ON L EWIS DURING THE G REAT W AR
3 A Happy New Year, Commander Mason
A MUDDLE, A SHIP AND A VOYAGE
4 The Beasts of Holm
T HE WRECK OF HMY I OLAIRE
P ART T WO : L EGACY
5 Grief Unutterable
T HE DESOLATION OF AN ISLAND
6 Searching and Impartial Inquiry
T HE QUEST FOR ANSWERS AND EXCUSES
7 My heart is so full of him and my loss of him so great
C HARITY AND MISERY, WIDOWS AND ORPHANS
8 Dead Reckoning
R EMEMBERING, EXPLAINING
Banntrach Cogaidh An t-Urr Iain MacLeid
(Rev. John MacLeod)
Prologue
![Picture 3](/uploads/posts/book/100151/images/00002.jpeg)
T hat was the night after the day after the longest night, the New Year night the children were up and down from the road, up and down, the table spread and the shift of clothes airing and all in readiness for a father scarcely remembered and a husband who would never, in fact, come on this New Year of peace; after the day the stuttering boy ran in, with the elders sombre at his heels, and she asked, Is it true? and they said, Yes, it is true the night before the weeks before the night the cart came from Stornoway with its sealed, tarpaulined coffin, and inside only what was left and which none that knew him could look on... this was the night Dolina had her dream, and her drowned man came to her in the vision of her grief and amidst the rubble of her world and in the exhaustion of her mind, and she said to him, Oh, Iain, Iain, how am I going to manage? And he said to her, his woman now widowed, Well, thats what I thought, too, when I heard the bell.
Raoir Reubadh an Iolaire | Last Night the Iolaire was Wrecked |
S binn sheinn i, a chailin, | Sweetly she sang, the lass, |
a-raoir ann an Ledhas; | last night on Lewis, |
I fuine an arain | as she baked the bread |
Le cridhe ln slais, | with a heart full of joy, |
air choinneamh a leannain | expecting her sweetheart |
Tha tighinn air frlach, | coming on leave, |
Tighnn dhachaidh thuic teraint | coming home to her safely, |
Fear a gridh. | her man beloved. |
Tha n cogadh nis thairis | The war is now over |
S a bhuaidh leis na firain, | and the heroes have won, |
Tha nochd ri tighinn dhachaidh; | and this night theyll be home; |
Tha n Iolaire gan gilain. | the Eagle bearing them. |
Chuir mine mun tein i | She put peat on the fi re |
S an coire le birn air | and fi lled the kettle |
Ghridh, chadal cha tidear | my love, therell be no sleeping |
Gus an l. | till daybreak. |
Bidh iadsan ri g aithris | They will surely relate |
s bidh sinne ri g isteachd | and we will surely listen |
Ri euchdanaibh bhalach | to the feats of the lads |
Na mara s an fhilidh; | of the sea and of the kilted soldiers; |
S na treun fhir a chailleadh, | and of the brave boys lost, |
A thuit is nach irich: | fallen, never to rise: |
O liuthd fear deas, dreach | Oh, all those fine, upright men |
Chaidh gu lr. | who were struck down. |
Cluinn osnaich na gaoithe! | Listen to the moaning wind! |
O, cluinn oirre sideadh! | Oh, hear it blowing! |
S rn buairte na doimhne; | And the raging roar of the deep; |
O s mairg tha, mo chreubhag, | Oh woes me, my calamity, |
Aig muir leis an oidhch seo | for those at sea tonight |
Cath ri muir beucach; | battling the howling sea. |
Sgaoil, Iolair, do sgiathaibh | Spread, Eagle, your wings |
S greas lem ghrdh. | and hasten with my love. |
Ri g irigh tha n l | Rising is the day |
S ri tuiteam tha dchas; | and fading is hope; |
Air an t-slabhraidh tha n coire | on the hook the kettle |
Ri pobaireachd brnach; | pipes lamentation; |
Sguir i dhol chun an dorais | she stopped going to the door |
S air an teine chuir mine | and adding peat to the fire |
Cluinn cruaidh fhead na gaoithe | listen to the howl of the wind |
A caoidh, a caoidh. | grieving, grieving. |
Goirt ghuil i, a chailin, | Sore she wept, the lass, |
Moch madainn a-mireach, | the morning of the morrow, |
Nuair fhuair i san fheamainn | when she found in the wrack |
A leannan s The bite, | her drowned beloved, |
Gun bhrgan mu chasan | without shoes on his feet, |
Mar chaidh air an t-snmh e, | just as he had swum; |
N sin chrom agus phg i | there she bent and kissed |
A bhilean fuar. | his chill lips. |
Raoir reubadh an Iolair | Last night the eagle was ravished, |
Bit fo sgiathaibh tha h-lach; | her chicks drowned under her wings; |
O na Hearadh tha tuireadh |
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